by Matt Worthy
My girlfriend and I were late departing wednesday night for Montebello (11pm or so), so I decided to try out the Windy Hill site instead of crashing the party at such an hour.
The weather was beautiful (first time I haven't required ski gear!) I had a good time hearing her expressions at seeing the fading comet, M5, M57 (thanks for the tips on finding that to the many who replied), Albireo, the moon of course, and a few others.
Unfortunately the galaxies continue to elude me. We must have spent a solid two hours attempting to target the Whirlpool, as well as M81 & M82. This is not the first time I've failed at these. Perhaps since I've yet to see them, I'm not looking for the right thing? Is it the same sort of dim glow one finds with the comet or a globular? Any input would be most appreciated.
Lastly, for the past 48 hours I've suffered awesome neck cramps from peering so long through my dob's finder looking for those elusive galaxies. Any tips there? Eventually I just layed out on the grass with the binos instead. Surely a right angle finder would only make things for difficult(?)
Thanks. I do hope to get out with the group one of these evenings and meet you all.